The Catalonia session in Spain has got more serious with Spanish flags taken down in the rich Catalan region and new ones hoisted to signify freedom.
Several Catalan towns have taken down Spanish flags on Friday.
This was after the region’s parliament voted in favour of independence from Spain.
Spain’s flags were taken down in towns such as Sabadell, Catalonia’s fifth-largest city, and of Girona, whose former mayor is Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont.
Similar actions were taken in other municipalities such as Figueres, Vic and Tortosa, but not in the regional capital of Barcelona, whose mayor, Ada Colau, is against unilateral secession.
In a social media message, Colau criticised the independence declaration and the Spanish government’s decision to counter it with the suspension of Catalan self-government.
“We’re a majority, in Catalonia and in Spain, who want a halt to the confrontation and call for dialogue, common sense and an agreed solution to take hold,’’ she wrote.